The present invention relates generally to the field of securest structures for securing components to a standard support rail.
Conduit and rail structures are frequently used to mount electrical components in enclosures. One popular system of this type uses a standard set of flanged rails that can be cut to a desired length and attached to the interior of an enclosure. These rails are commonly referred to as DIN rails. DIN rails have either inwardly or outwardly projecting raised flanges along their length for receiving components. The components may include a wide array of modular elements such as terminal blocks, input/output modules, dip switched, small motor drives, contactors, circuit breakers, current sensors, overload relays, communication/control modules, and so on. Each of the components features structures designed to interface with the DIN rail flanges to hold the components securely in place.
Previous components have required a mounting foot or mounting clips to be attached to the component prior to attaching the component to the DIN rail. There is extra cost involved in manufacturing these extra parts, and in the time required to assemble these parts. Further, there is more room for error and failure when manufacturing extra parts.
There is a need, therefore, for an improved arrangement for mounting components along DIN rails wherein the component and the connection portion are integrally formed, thereby decreasing the number of parts and the time required to install the component. It is further desired to design a component which can be easily installed and removed from a DIN rail.